User blog:Thantosiet/One Different Secret: A Review
As of this review, One Different Secret has posted the first episode of their second season. The Plot Most of the beginning is pretty standard. Friends Aly and Serena become hypnotized by strange music, touch a white rock, and end up with tails and powers, as they discover. However, the first piece of jewelry they find, with a note from a shapeshifter called "TK," transports both of them to an unfamiliar beach. They get back home, but next time Aly finds herself in a cave, where she is attacked and interrogated by TK--Talie Kresh. She manages to escape in spite of a broken leg, and both mermaids work to evade Talie. After a brief exposure scare, the girls discover a magical book which describes how the four elements can be linked to particular mermaids or shapeshifters. Serena and Aly realize that they are water and fire, respectively. However, Talie Kresh attacks once more, rewriting Aly's memories so she thinks Talie is her friend and Serena a stranger. Wondering what to do, Serena discovers a note with an address on it. She goes to the address and meets a girl named Marlowe. As it turns out, Marlowe is Talie's sister and also a shapeshifter, but a good one. The rock that transformed the Kresh girls also turned Talie evil. The two of them have the elements of air and earth as well. However, Talie kidnaps and impersonates Marlowe, though she soon escapes. In the sisters' confrontation, Talie murders Serena, revealing that she also represents death. Being her opposite, Marlowe is able to restore Serena to life (and fix Aly's memories). However, Talie makes her next move, ordering Marlowe to steal the mermaids' powers or let Talie murder everyone. Serena witnesses this in a vision, and confronts Marlowe, convincing her not to give in. While they're on the beach, Marlowe shifts into a mermaid, but when she gets wet, she loses her shapeshifting, becoming a real mermaid, to her dismay. Furious at Marlowe's failure, Talie decides not to give her a second chance. The Characters Serena and Aly aren't very distinct from each other. They take turns being skeptical or clever or upset, but they have good chemistry. It's pretty obvious Serena's actress is the power behind the throne, but she carries her many solitary scenes well. So far Aly has developed a distinct tendency to get captured, and she's somewhat sillier than Serena. Marlowe, on the other hand, doesn't feel like she's found her place yet. A lot of her dialogue just sounds like lines, and even her body language suggests that she's stiff and uncomfortable. Talie's new actress, Sophie, on the other hand, is deliciously evil and very fun to watch, even though she's only appeared in one episode. Technicals The camerawork is generally solid, maybe a little too distant at times, but the characters aren't decapitated by the top of the screen very often, which is good. Music is infrequent but utilized well, not distracting from the scene. They experiment frequently with things like day-for-night or how to portray powers. ODS Blog 5.png|One of the more . . . adorable attempts at pyrokinesis. Though the day-for-night ain't half bad. The one thing that kind of bugs me is the fast-forwarding. See, whenever the actors end up doing something fairly slow onscreen, like dragging themselves up a beach, the video will jump into fast-forward, squeaky little noises and all. Sometimes this will happen multiple times in the same scene. It seems like a strange decision when you could just edit the extra footage out. Best Moment "Answers Lead to Questions," Season 1, Episode 8 I'll be honest: I like this episode more for concept than execution. Slightly. Reading this in the episode description while I was putting the list page together was what convinced me to watch the show next, so it's important to me anyway. This episode marks the first appearance of Marlowe, and for the first chunk, I enjoyed her performance. Her conversations with Serena felt pretty natural, and the backstory she provided was fascinating. We even got surnames for the characters, something that I've come to appreciate from having to compile so many lists of characters. ODS Blog 2.png The actual confrontation scene was where things started coming apart performance-wise: the dialogue slides into "get the words out, never mind how rushed or emotionless" territory, and the editing makes Serena's death a little confusing on the first viewing. However, the lines themselves are fairly strong, as is the action. ODS Blog 1.png I admire a show that has the guts to kill a main character. Even though it doesn't last very long at all, it establishes that Talie is a real threat, and it makes for a dramatic season cliffhanger. Worst Moment "A Half for a Whole," Season 2, Episode 1 After Serena convinces Marlowe not to take her or Aly's powers, they decide to practice their abilities. Marlowe shows Serena a new "trick"--she can shapeshift into a mermaid, but she can't touch water in this form, because something so bad will happen, her teacher wouldn't dare tell her. . . . Um, wouldn't it be more effective to just say what the consequences will be? If it's really that bad, knowing might make her more cautious. Considering that Marlowe is barely even worried, her teacher probably should have just told her. ODS Blog 3.png Serena decides to talk Marlowe into trying to swim in this form anyway. Sure, it could be dangerous, but it might also be fun. This is the same logic behind most YouTube fail videos, I imagine. Marlowe (somewhat justifiably) refuses and storms off, only to return seconds later saying she was being a little overdramatic. Marlowe, I think I can safely say that being overdramatic isn't a problem for you. Serena again tries to talk her into swimming--this time adding that even if she's stuck as a mermaid, "there's a big ocean right here." Wow. Just wow. So when you're temporarily stuck in a tail or photographed in mermaid form, that's a big deal. As far as your new friend who recently sacrificed half of her life force to resurrect you from the dead is concerned, pshaw, it's a big ocean, they'll never find you. ODS Blog 4.png|Remember that time you were on the news, Serena? Marlowe compromises by deciding to sit near Serena, where it's dry. Her definition of "dry" is much broader than mine: she chooses a patch of sand that is obviously shiny and water-saturated. Serena brings up some head-scratching comments about destiny before Marlowe realizes that yes, she is actually wet now. She loses her shapeshifting abilities, becoming a mermaid for really reals. Somehow. Terrible beyond words, I know, Marlowe's teacher was so right to not tell her this would happen. The characters behave in bizarre and even unlikeable ways, intriguing new elements (a shapeshifter school, shapeshifters being immortal) are thrown in apparently at random, and the whole sequence just drags. Crazy Fan Theories Talie is under some kind of malignant influence, not completely corrupted, the way the other characters keep saying she is. We still don't know where the stones come from or how they work, but the elemental association and mention that only certain generations get this power makes me think there's some higher being involved. That being said, why are the elements set up this way? Three "good," one "bad," and one can just attack the others at will? I've got my eye on Aly. Talie's been pretty rough on her in particular, but also left her alive over and over, even hypnotizing her into believing Talie was a friend. I think the shapeshifter is trying to push her to the breaking point, turn her evil so the scales can be balanced. Seems a little bit odd that the exposure subplot, which was pretty important for the first few episodes, just disappeared. One episode the mermaids are all over the news, scuba divers are going after them, it's a huge story, and then poof, it's gone. Perhaps MER Foundation has moved in and quieted the story down, so the mermaids can go about their usual business thinking they're safe. That might also explain where the stones came from . . . So, How's It Hold Up? Strongly recommended. Having the episodes be written can result in some awkward or emotionless deliveries, but it's a small price. The show is clearly plotted--something important happens in every single episode--and willing to take risks. It has a compelling and powerful villain and has set up a lot of potentially interesting plot threads already. The acting is the one real weak spot, but I imagine it will smooth out as the cast gains experience. As one final note, I would recommend not reading the video descriptions for each episode: spoilers ahoy. Category:Blog posts Category:Reviews